


Right Here in the Handbook: The Powers That Be

by GothicDeetz



Series: Right Here in the Handbook [1]
Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Animal Transformation, Clones, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dead People, Demons, Gen, Ghosts, Invisibility, Multi, Peter Pan References, Shapeshifting, Summoning, Teaching, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Teleportation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothicDeetz/pseuds/GothicDeetz
Summary: It’s been a couple of months since the day Adam and Barbara died from a fall through the floorboards of their own house. They have everything they could wish for, friends, family, a daughter (even if none of them were biologically related to them), but the one thing that they don’t have control of just yet is their ghost powers.Luckily, Betelgeuse is there to help them out.
Relationships: Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland
Series: Right Here in the Handbook [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815802
Comments: 16
Kudos: 18





	1. Telekinesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at telekinesis, splitting a couple of apples into apple slices.

Both Adam and Barbara Maitland were baby ghosts, beginners, newly-deads, recently deceased ghosts. It was only a couple months since their deaths and they hadn’t quite gotten a hang of the powers that they now had that came with the fact that they were both dead. 

They had everything that they could never imagine that they even needed: a family, friends, a daughter that they never got to have (in the cases of family and daughter, it may not be biological but the Deetzes were still like family to both Adam and Barbara). 

Betelgeuse was...a different case. Sure the Maitlands and the Deetzes let him hang around the house but sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, he would cause a great amount of trouble around the house. Sometimes Lydia would get involved, other times she wouldn’t (it didn’t matter if she got involved or not. She often did get in trouble with her four parents for doing stuff she shouldn’t with Betelgeuse). The last time, she was grounded for a total of two weeks.

Once, Adam tried to place something on a high shelf and couldn’t, until he flicked his hand and whatever it was he was trying to put on the shelf floated up to the shelf and placed itself exactly where he wanted to put it.

He stared at it in silence then turned his attention over towards his wife with a look on his face that clearly said “Oh! I didn’t know I could do that!”

Imagine their surprise when, one day, their resident demon friend sat down on the couch in the sitting room and patted two empty spots on either side of him for the two of them to sit down in.

They did so, unsure of what the demon’s intention was. All he did once they sat down on either side of him was summon a copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and open it to the section on ghostly abilities. He pointed to the first paragraph of the first page of the chapter and both Adam and Barbara listened along as he began to speak,

“Chapter Twelve: Ghostly powers,” began a now concentrated Betelgeuse as his eyes scanned over the page he was on. “Paragraph one: When they first die, newly-dead ghosts get a whole bunch of powers that will then be useful for their afterlives. These ghostly powers include and are limited to the following: Telekinesis, Cloning, Levitation, Shapeshifting, Summoning objects, Telepathy, Teleportation, Phasing through objects and walls, Invisibility, and Possession. You already know about possession, so you don’t need to go through another lesson for it.”  
  


  
“That’s right,” said Barbara. “We did learn possession before.”

“Since when could he even read?” Adam quietly ask-whispered to Barbara, leaning over Betelgeuse’s shoulder in order to look at his wife.

“Dunno,” replied Barbara with a shrug.

Betelgeuse stopped reading and glared at Adam and then at Barbara, causing the two ghosts to go quiet.

“Sorry, sorry,” said Adam in apology.

“We’ll let you continue reading,” said Barbara with a laugh.

Betelgeuse just smiled at them and turned the page, revealing a page that talked about Telekinesis. “Okay,” he said as he began to read. “Telekinesis, the act of doing things with your mind.”

As he said this, he summoned two apples out of thin air and the Maitlands gazed at them in confusion. “So?” asked a confused Adam as he turned his attention over to Betelgeuse. “Are we learning Object Summoning or are we learning Telekinesis, Mr. Geuse?”

“Telekinesis,” was the demon’s reply. He did not maintain eye contact with Adam as he said that though.

“Oh, okay,” said Barbara. “How do we do it?”

“Simple. Focus on the apples sitting on the table in front of you and use your minds to do the rest.” When the Maitlands gave Betelgeuse looks of confusion, he sighed quietly to himself and continued, “I want you guys to turn the Apples into Apple slices with your minds. Come on you guys, it’s not hard. It’s right here in the Handbook, see?” He pointed to the page on Telekinesis and the Maitlands’ eyes widened in unison.

“Oh!!” they said at the same time.

They focused their attention on the apples in front of them, letting their minds do the rest of the work. Betelgeuse instructed the two of them to hold their arms out in front of them when he saw that nothing was happening. Surprisingly and interestingly enough, the apples split apart into apple slices.

“We did it!” Adam and Barbara shouted in unison, looking towards Betelgeuse with wide smiles on their faces.

“Yes you certainly did,” replied Betelgeuse with an equal smile on his face. “Now...for your next lesson...“


	2. Cloning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at cloning. They succeed at first but then their clones get away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After much consideration, I have now decided to make this story a seven chapter long fanfic instead of a one shot, as someone commented that they wanted to see the Maitlands trying out the other lessons with Betelgeuse.
> 
> Thank you, lordvaatithewindmage, for your comment on the first chapter of this story and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

The Maitlands watched as he opened up the Handbook again, flipping to the page that came after the page on telekinesis: the page on cloning. “Cloning,” began Betelgeuse as he started to scan the page he had the Handbook for the Recently Deceased open to. “All ghosts have the ability to clone themselves. They may create as many clones as they want of themselves.”

“How many clones did you happen to create the last time you cloned yourself, Mr. Betelgeuse?” asked Barbara, curiously tilting her head to the side.

He looked at her then looked away, letting out a sigh. “I’m not really sure. It was a couple months ago. I’m going to have to ask Lydia and see if she knows the amount of clones I created of myself. She’ll know because she was there the last time I cloned myself.”

“Well, let us know what she says,” replied both Adam and Barbara in unison. “When you do ask her, that is.”

“I will,” said Betelgeuse with a smile and a laugh. “Now shall we continue with our cloning lesson?”

“Right, right.” Both Adam and Barbara laughed in unison, rubbing the backs of their necks. “Continue.”

“Now,” Betelgeuse said, standing up. He moved to the middle of the living room and concentrated carefully. Within seconds he gestured towards three different locations in the living room and three clones of Betelgeuse appeared in those three exact spots. Almost as quickly as they appeared, the clones disappeared and Betelgeuse opened his eyes to look at a stunned Adam and Barbara with a smile on his face.

“Is it really that simple?” Adam asked as he held onto his wife for comfort which made Betelgeuse guess that they were afraid his three clones were going to cause trouble around the house.

Betelgeuse nodded. “Uh, yeah...Now, you guys try.”

Adam and Barbara stood up and moved to the center of the living room, standing in the exact same spot where Betelgeuse had been standing just seconds prior, whilst Betelgeuse himself sat himself back down on the couch and watched and waited for the Maitlands to clone themselves.

He frowned when nothing seemed to happen then noticed that the Maitlands weren’t trying that hard enough to even clone themselves.

He stood up then sat down again. “Come on, you guys,” he said. “It can’t be that hard to make clones of yourselves, can it? Even I can make clones of myself without even trying hard. It’s easy.”

“But probably not for us,” Adam pointed out.

“Sure, sure, but I’m telling you, even baby ghosts, like yourselves, know how to clone themselves. I’m sure of it.”

Again Adam and Barbara focused their attention and their minds solely on making clones of themselves. And this time it worked. Six clones of Adam and six clones of Barbara appeared all over the living room.

Adam and Barbara looked around the living room at all the clones and then refocused their attention back over towards Betelgeuse. “We did it!” they shouted in unison, giving each other a soundless high five.

Before Betelgeuse could congratulate them and move onto the next lesson: Levitation, all twelve clones went crazy, running amok around the house. Adam and Barbara stared after them in worry and confusion then turned their attention back over towards the equally worried demon.

“We’re going to have to go and get them before we can properly send them away, aren’t we?” asked Adam as he, Barbara, and Betelgeuse all stood up.

“Yep,” replied Betelgeuse sternly as the three of them went upstairs to see if they could find any of the clones that went missing.


	3. Levitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at levitation. Lydia comes down in a hurry because they forgot two of their clones.

Oh boy, catching twelve clones and getting them all back downstairs was hard work. On the way, Betelgeuse had stopped by Lydia’s room to ask her how many clones he’d summoned during their three-day friendship two months ago and, unfortunately for him, she said she didn’t know as it was a while ago.

That upset him, greatly.

He didn’t mind though. Of course she wouldn’t know.

After having sent away the clones with help from Adam and Barbara, Betelgeuse sat himself back down on the couch with the Maitlands on either side of him (They’d switched places, much to his annoyance. But he didn’t mind, as long as they were sitting on the couch with him).

“Okay,” said Betelgeuse as he summoned the Handbook and opened it to the page on levitation. “Levitation, a natural skill that all ghosts learn when they first die. It’s a simple skill and one of the first that all ghosts and demons get.”

“So, you’re saying that levitating is an easy thing that Barb and I can do?” asked Adam as he gazed at Betelgeuse.

“Precisely,” said Betelgeuse, not even bothering to look at Adam as he continued reading. “Now,” he continued. “Think that levitating is like flying like that “Peter Pan” guy in that movie that Lydia can’t stop watching does, start thinking happy thoughts. What makes you guys happy?”

It took Adam and Barbara a little while to think up answers to Betelgeuse’s question about what would make them happy. If levitating was anything like flying like Lydia’s favorite Disney character did, then they could think of happy thoughts and immediately start levitating. They hoped it worked.

“Hmmm,” Adam said. “Being together makes us happy.”

“You’re off to a great start, A-Dog. Now think happy thoughts of that and hopefully you’ll start levitating.”

And that’s what they did. The moment a happy thought of Barbara entered Adam’s mind, he floated up into the air and stayed there, hovering in place. Barbara looked up at him with wondering eyes whilst Betelgeuse smiled up at him. Then she thought a happy thought about Adam. She floated up in the air right next to Adam and the two high fived.

“We did it!” they cheered in unison.

“Yes, you did,” said Betelgeuse. Before he could move onto the next lesson, Lydia came rushing down the stairs with an Adam clone and a Barbara clone in tow. She looked to be really panicked and both the Maitlands and Betelgeuse turned to look at her.

“Is something wrong, Lydia? I can see we forgot two of our clones,” said Adam. “What were they doing?”  
  


“Messing around in my room. Going through all my stuff. Barb, your clone tried to read through my diary. I’m lucky I pulled it away from her in time,” said Lydia in a hurry. She moved to stand in front of all three dead people. “What are you guys doing?”

“I’m teaching them how to use their ghost powers,” explained Betelgeuse as he leaned back on the couch and rested his hands behind his head, the Handbook still open in his lap. “So far, they’ve learned telekinesis, cloning, and levitation.”

“Didn’t Barb levitate before?” Lydia had a confused look on her face. “Back when I accidentally almost exorcised her using that book.” She gestured to the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. “Two months ago?”

“I did, but that was only brief,” said Barbara. “Also, I don’t want to talk about or hear about that exorcism ever again. Do you hear me, Lydia?”

Lydia nodded.

“Good,” said Barbara. She suddenly thought a happy thought of Lydia and suddenly floated upwards again. Luckily, Betelgeuse and Adam were quick to pull her back down to the couch and sit her back down.

“You were doing it again, B-Town. What were you thinking happy thoughts of this time around?” Betelgeuse asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Lydia,” said Barbara, looking at the aforementioned teenager.

“Alright, alright,” Betelgeuse suddenly said, flipping the page of the Handbook to the page on Shapeshifting. “Let’s move onto our lesson on Shapeshifting.”

“Can I watch?” Lydia asked.

Adam and Barbara sent their clones away and then focused their attention on Lydia.

“Of course you can,” said Barbara, pulling Lydia in for a hug with Adam and Betelgeuse joining. “I bet our next lesson’s going to be interesting.”


	4. Shapeshifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at shapeshifting. They take turns turning into animals (Barbara a cat and Adam a dog) and being petted by Lydia.

Adam and Barbara sat beside Betelgeuse on the couch again (They has once again swapped places much to Betelgeuse’s annoyance), watching as Betelgeuse flipped to the next page of the Handbook (The page on Shapeshifting), whilst Lydia sat on a chair opposite the couch and watched (waiting for both Adam and Barbara to go through their lesson on Shapeshifting with Betelgeuse’s help).

It was starting to get long and Lydia was starting to get bored, silently wishing that she could go back upstairs to her bedroom soon.

When was their lesson going to start? That was what Lydia wanted to know.

“Adam, Barbara!” complained Lydia. “I’m bored. Can I go upstairs please?”

They turned to look at her, concerned.

“You cannot be that bored this quickly, Lyds,” said Adam with a sigh. “Betelgeuse was about to start our lesson on Shapeshifting.”

“Yeah,” continued Barbara with a laugh. “I think Betelgeuse said something about animal transformation while he was quietly reading through the page on Shapeshifting in the Handbook. Do you want to hold and pet me when I turn myself into a cat?”

“Same here,” said Adam, laughing a little as well. “I might think about turning myself into a dog though.”

“That’s right,” said Betelgeuse, directing the attention of Adam, Barbara, and Lydia over towards him. “I did say something about animal transformation whilst reading about Shapeshifting in the Handbook. You guys can totally turn into a cat and a dog and get petted by Lydia.”

“You really mean it??” the Maitlands asked in unison.

Betelgeuse nodded. “Mhm. Now, can we begin our lesson on Shapeshifting?”

“Right, right,” the Maitlands both said at once. “Go ahead.”

Betelgeuse refocused his attention back over towards the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and began to reread what he had just read from the book. “Shapeshifting, the act of transforming into something other than yourself. Be it animal, plant, or inanimate object, ghosts can transform into any of those. Did you guys get everything I just said?”

The Maitlands both nodded.

“Great,” said Betelgeuse, putting the Handbook upside down on the couch and standing up with the Maitlands following closely behind. Betelgeuse turned to Barbara. “Now, B-Town, you said you wanted to turn into a cat, right?”

Barbara nodded. “Yep.”

“Well, go ahead and try,” Betelgeuse instructed, turning his attention over towards Lydia (Who was surprisingly no longer bored and still sitting in the chair opposite the couch) before returning his attention back over towards Barbara (Who was nowhere close to being able to turn into a cat). “What’s the hol’up, B?” asked Betelgeuse with a hint of confusion in the tone of his voice.

“I can’t quite turn myself into a cat, Mr. Betelgeuse,” said Barbara with a slight bit of a strain.

“Have you tried thinking about a cat?”

“No...”

“Well, try that. It’s easy.” To prove his point, Betelgeuse thought of a dog (He was lucky that Lydia had told him what a dog was and showed him a picture of one the other day, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to think of and turn into one) and turned into that exact dog, running around the room at full speed and finally jumping up into Lydia’s lap when she lifted up her arms.

As Lydia petted the Betelgeuse dog, he turned his attention over towards a stunned Adam and Barbara. “See,” he said. “It’s easy. All you need to do is think about the animal that you wish to transform into and bam! You’re that animal. Go on, give it a try.”

“Maybe in a few minutes,” replied Barbara with a sly smirk. “I think we’re more interested in the fact that you can still talk whilst you’re in animal form. That makes me think of having a full on conversation with Lydia while in my cat form.”

“And I was thinking about having a conversation with Lydia while in my dog form,” continued Adam.

As Lydia ceased petting him, dog Betelgeuse jumped off her lap and scampered over towards the Maitlands, turning back into his regular self as he did so. “Are you guys serious?” he asked, coming to a stop in front of the Maitlands. “At this rate, we’re going to finish with these lessons by the end of the day.”

“Totally serious,” the Maitlands said in unison, giving each other a soundless high five. Betelgeuse just groaned. Of course they would be totally serious about speaking with Lydia whilst being petted by her.

“Fine!” grumbled Betelgeuse. “Go ahead. I don’t care.”

The Maitlands looked at each other and smiled.

“Barbara,” Betelgeuse said, directing his attention over towards the female ghost. “I want you to go first.”

“Okay.” Barbara thought about a tabby cat and immediately transformed into a tabby cat, scampering over towards a waiting Lydia and jumping into her lap much like what Betelgeuse had done earlier when he was in his dog form. Lydia began petting kitty Barbara with a huge smile on her face. She’d always wanted a pet of her own (she couldn’t decide between a cat and a dog) but the Maitlands and Betelgeuse turning into animals for her to pet was far better than actually having a pet of her own. Who knew how quickly Lydia would get used to seeing her dead secondary parents and dead best friend turn into animals. It also meant that she couldn’t wait to die and become a ghost herself. Oh how she secretly wanted ghost powers of her very own. Then Betelgeuse could help her learn how to use them.

“Lydia? I was talking to you.” The teenager looked down to find Barbara looking up at her with a confused look on her kitten face.

“Oh! I’m sorry. What were you saying, kitty Barb?” Lydia said in apology.

“I was asking you if you were done with your homework from Friday,” said Barbara with a sigh that sounded a little more like a meow.

“I did it yesterday, Barbara. You didn’t need to ask.”

“Okay, okay,” said Barbara, doing what looked like a failed attempt at an eye roll.

Over in the corner, Betelgeuse soundlessly slapped his face. “B-Town, I think you had enough. A-Dog, it’s your turn. Go and turn into the second part of my nickname for you.”

Lydia stopped petting Barbara and the latter jumped off her lap, turning back into her regular self as she made her way over towards the couch and sat down, urging her husband to stand up.

Adam moved to the center of the living room and thought of a Chocolate Labrador Retriever, turning into one almost immediately. He bounded over to Lydia and laid down by her feet, closing his eyes and causing Lydia to get up and kneel down next to him in order to pet him.

Adam opened one eye, enjoying the sweet sensation of Lydia scratching him behind the ears. “Hi, Lydia,” he said.

“Is that all you’re gonna say to me?” asked Lydia in a teasing tone of voice.

Stretch. “Yep!”

“Well then. Hi to you too, doggy Adam.”


	5. Object Summoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at summoning objects.

“Okay, A-Dog, I think you had enough petting by Lydia,” said Betelgeuse as he and Barbara gazed at the Chocolate lab version of the male ghost. He seemed to be still enjoying being petted by Lydia and looked like he didn’t want to have it stop anytime soon. “A-Dog?”

“ADAM!” Barbara quickly shouted, stopping Lydia from petting him and he looked up at her. Adam quickly stood up, shook himself clean, transformed back into his regular self and made his way back over towards where Barbara and Betelgeuse were sitting and waiting for him. By now, Lydia had sat herself back down on the chair she had been sitting on whilst petting the dog version of Betelgeuse and the cat version of Barbara and she was now anxiously waiting for her best demon friend and secondary ghost parents to start their next ghost power lesson. Who knew, maybe she could even ask them to summon a few objects for her whilst they were at it.

“Sorry. I guess I was getting a little carried away,” Adam quickly apologized as he sat down in an empty spot on the couch right next to Betelgeuse and watched, along with Barbara, as their demon friend flipped to the next page in the Handbook: the page on Summoning objects and began to read.

“Next time, don’t get that carried away hon,” Barbara said as she pecked her husband on the mouth.

“Don’t worry,” Adam replied as soon as Barbara pulled away and caressed his cheek in her hand. “I won’t.”

“Ahem!” interrupted Betelgeuse, glaring at Adam and then at Barbara. “You two do want to learn how to summon objects, don’t you? It’s the nest power that you guys will learn how to control but I won’t be able to continue if you keep interrupting me like you did for every other lesson.”

“Right, right,” said Adam as he winked at Barbara. “No more interruptions. Please continue.”

“Good,” said Betelgeuse as he refocused his attention back down towards the page in the Handbook that he was currently on. “Object summoning, all ghosts and demons can summon objects. Be it for everyday tasks or just for fun. Now.” He looked at Adam and then at Barbara. “I want you to summon an object of your choice-“

“I’m hungry,” interrupted Lydia.

“Or you could try to summon something for Lydia to eat as a way to start,” Betelgeuse said with a sigh.

“We could try that,” Adam said, looking towards Lydia. “What did you want to eat right now, Lyds?”

“A cookie and perhaps a glass of milk.”

“One cookie and a glass of milk coming right up,” said Barbara as she cast a glance over towards Betelgeuse. “How easy is summoning edible objects?”

“If it’s anything like summoning non-edible objects,” replied Betelgeuse. “Then it should be pretty easy. Go ahead, give it a try.”

“Okay,” said Barbara. She turned towards Lydia and focused hard. Soon after, a cookie and a glass of milk appeared in thin air and Barbara levitated them over towards Lydia, who grabbed them with ease and began to slowly munch on her cookie all the while smiling wide at Barbara.

“Thanks, Barbara,” Lydia said out of happiness.

“You’re welcome,” Barbara replied, turning her attention over towards Betelgeuse and giving him a smile. “I did it!”

“Yes, you certainly did,” Betelgeuse replied, resting a hand on Barbara’s transparent shoulder. “And nice use of levitation to go along with your summoning that cookie and glass of milk.”

“Why thank you,” said Barbara.

Betelgeuse turned to Adam. “Your turn now, A-Dog. You think of an object that you want to summon and see if it appears in thin air right next to you. Go on, it’s easy.”

“Well, if it’s that easy then okay I’ll try,” said Adam as he turned his attention over towards Lydia. He relaxed and closed his eyes, thinking of a random type of ball and when he opened his eyes, said ball was floating in midair right next to him.

“I did it!” Adam shouted. Barbara stood up and gave him a high five.

“Haha,” Betelgeuse said, letting out a little laugh. “Nice try, A-Dog, but we’re not playing with that inside. I don’t think Lydia’s dad and stepmother would like it if they came home to find half of the house wrecked and a ball in the middle of the living room.”

“I wasn’t going to do that though,” Adam nervously said. “I’d never do that.”

“Right...”

Lydia looked confused. “Beej?” she asked with a questionable look plastered on her face. “How did you know that my dad and Delia aren’t home right now?”

“Eh, they kinda left the moment I appeared in the house this morning,” said Betelgeuse as he leaned backwards in his spot on the couch, the Handbook sitting upside down in his lap.

“You showed up in the house?” Lydia said out of surprise. “Without me having to summon you?”

“Pretty much,” said Betelgeuse. “I can appear in the house at will any time I want to. Did you not know that?”

“I guess I didn’t,” replied Lydia.

“Anyway,” Betelgeuse then said, sitting upright, picking up the Handbook, flipping it over, and flipping to the next page in it. “Shall we begin our next lesson?”

Adam and Barbara nodded. They couldn’t wait for their next lesson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have decided to make this story a total of ten chapters instead of seven as there are more ghost powers I want to make chapters for. I hope you guys don’t mind the change.


	6. Telepathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at telepathy, which is a power Lydia is also allowed to try out.

Betelgeuse looked to his left and then to his right, looking confused when he didn’t see any sign of Adam or Barbara anywhere but when he glanced to the front of him, he found Adam and Barbara sitting on the ground and playing some sort of game (He couldn’t tell what exactly it was but they each appeared to be holding cards) with Lydia.

“Um,” Betelgeuse spoke, halting them mid-game. “What are you guys doing?”

“Lydia wanted to play cards with us,” both ghosts explained at once. “So we couldn’t pass it up.”

“Well, your game of cards can wait until your lessons finish. Now get up here so we can begin our next lesson.” Betelgeuse patted the two empty spots next to him and the Maitlands scrambled back into the two empty spots whilst Lydia scrambled backinto the chair she had been sitting in for the past hour. “Okay,” said Betelgeuse letting out a sigh of relief. “Our next lesson is on telepathy.”

“That should be easy,” said Adam with a smile on his face. He turned to look at Barbara and she smiled back at him.

“It is. All you guys need to do is telepathically talk to each other and to Lydia if you feel like it. Lydia, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could telepathically talk to the Maitlands as well,” said Betelgeuse.

“I mean I could if I wanted but I’m not sure if it’s possible,” said Lydia as she looked up towards the ceiling of the living room.

“Well, why don’t we give it a try,” Adam suggested with a smile. He, Barbara, and Lydia focused hard.

“Hi, Lydia,” were the first words the teenager heard in her mind, spoken by both Adam and Barbara.

“Hi,” she said back through her mind and Adam and Barbara looked up at her and gave her equal smiles, indicating to the teen that they did in fact hear what she’d said to them in their minds.

“I’m surprised you can in fact talk back to us through your mind,” Adam said through his mind, directing his statement towards Lydia.

“I’m surprised too,” Lydia focused harder as she replied back to him. “Want me to say something random in your minds.

“Go ahead.” And then the Maitlands giggled as they waited for Lydia to say whatever random thing that she wanted to say to the two of them.

“Tdsadewdf hgtrffr vfeexc sg ttunhn,” said Lydia and the Maitlands laughed loudly in their minds. “But wait,” Lydia suddenly continued. “I’m not done yet.”

“What other random things do you want to tell us through your mind, Lydia?” asked Adam as he looked over towards her.

“Well...fdrsvdr tdeecc nbbgg esxdde ddeedexc bvfffrf wwzxee,” said Lydia as she burst into laughter.

“What on earth is Lydia even saying to you guys?” Betelgeuse asked Adam and Barbarathrough his mind.

“Random things,” replied Adam as he glanced over at Barbara, over at Lydia, and finally over at Betelgeuse. “What else would she be saying to us?”

“Not random things,” Betelgeuse spoke back to him as he let out a sigh. “Please at least have a normal conversation.”

“Fine!” Lydia, Adam, and Barbara spoke back to him through their minds in unison.

“Excited for school this week?” asked Adam through his mind to Lydia. All it took was looking at the person or ghost or demon you wanted to talk to and whatever it was you wanted to say was heard in their mind.

“Oh yes,” replied a smirking Lydia as she glanced at Adam. She focused her attention on Barbara. “Hey, Barb? What would happen if you and Adam weren’t dead and my dad, Delia, and I still moved to this neighborhood? I really want to know. That’s all.”

“Well,” Barbara spoke back through her mind as she glanced at Lydia. “You would probably move into one of the houses either across the street from ours or right next to ours. You probably wouldn’t have moved into this house as it wasn’t actually supposed to be for sale when you guys were moving.”

“Ah, that’s cool. Would we still be friends if my dad, Delia, and I moved into a different house?”

“Probably.”

“Sweet.” Lydia turned her attention towards Betelgeuse. “Hey, Beej! Hfdrcbfrb hytbgtg ttfvbr bcfdcv rdcdrr sszswsc!”

“Please stop!”

“Never!” Lydia let out a few giggles and continued. “Ggrdcfrf trcfrf gdsse hytbgy rcedv wzswsx!”

“I think we’re getting a little carried away with this whole “Telepathically talking to each other through our minds” thing,” Betelgeuse finally admitted out loud as he looked at Lydia, at Barbara, and then at Adam. “We can’t have Lydia continuously saying random things in her mind now, can we?”

“But saying random things in my mind is fun!” Lydia said as she tilted her head to the side. “I think I’m gonna do it some more when you guys are all done with your lessons. How many more lessons do you have to teach the Maitlands, Bj?”

“Hmmm...let’s see. If I remember correctly, we’ve still got teleportation, phasing through objects and walls, invisibility, and tangibility to cover. Then that should be about it.” He turned to where he thought Adam and Barbara were. “You guys ready to start your lesson on teleportation yet?”

“Just as soon as we finish this super intense game of cards.” Betelgeuse looked over towards the center of the living room again and found Lydia, Adam, and Barbara sitting in a circle and playing cards once again. Betelgeuse let out a groan of annoyance. Seriously? Again?

“Ugh! Fine!” Betelgeuse grumbled. “But make it quick! We need to get these lessons done by the end of the day.”


	7. Teleportation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at teleportion.

“Are you guys done with that game of yours yet?” Betelgeuse asked impatiently as he laid on his back on the couch, his head turned to look at Lydia and the Maitlands as they continued on with their super intense game of cards. “I’m getting super tired here!”

“Not yet, but we’re almost done,” replied Adam as he slapped down another card. “But I’m winning though, which is good.”

“Hey, no fair!” Lydia and Barbara shouted at the same time. “I wanted to win!”

“Too bad,” Adam replied with a simple smirk. He waited a few seconds for Lydia to play a card.

She did, then smirked at Adam as she waited for Barbara to play a card.

“Still getting bored over here!” An extra hand of Betelgeuse’s was dangling from his side as he kept his eyes focused on Lydia, Adam, and Barbara.

“Okay, okay,” said Adam as he played his final card. “I WIN!!!”

Barbara and Lydia threw their remaining cards to the ground and crossed their arms in anger and annoyance as they glared at Adam. “No fair!” they grumped in unison.

“It’s about time!” said Betelgeuse in relief as he sat upright on the couch and patted the same two empty spots on the couch right next to him for the Maitlands to sit down in in order to continue with their lessons.

“Mr. Betelgeuse, relax, it was only a half hour of us playing that card game,” said Barbara as she and Adam sat themselves back down on the couch next to him and Lydia scrambled to sit back down on her chair.

“It doesn’t matter. Can we please start on our lesson on teleportation?”

“Go ahead,” both Maitlands said at once.

“Great! Thank you!” Betelgeuse turned two pages of the Handbook after picking it up again. “Now, I didn’t get to read off the paragraph on telepathy because I was too busy thinking about why and how you guys had decided to play cards when we should have done our lesson on telepathy.”

“That’s quite alright, Betelgeuse. That’s quite alright,” both Maitlands said at the same time.

“Thank you. Now, if I can continue on with our lesson, teleportation. Another skill that all baby ghosts gain when they first die. It doesn’t matter how many people or ghosts or demons you teleport at once. Be it just yourself or two or three or four or more, the amount doesn’t matter. Babs, I want you to start by teleporting to the stairs and back into the living room.”

“That should be easy,” Barbara said as she got off the couch and moved to the center of the living room. She focused hard and teleported to the stairs and back in a literal split second, moving to sit back down on the couch. “I did it!”

“Yes, you certainly did! Now, sexy-.”

“Please don’t think about calling me sexy anymore, Betelgeuse. It’s getting on my nerves.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have any nerves, A-Dog. You’re dead, remember.”

“Yeah, but, I think that it’s an expression.” Adam silently laughed. “Also, I don’t want to be called A-Dog anymore. It also gets on my nerves.”

“Again with the ‘No nerves’!”

“Again with the ‘It’s an expression, Mr. Geuse’!”

“Fine! Adam, I want you to do the same thing as B-Town did earlier. Teleport to the stairs and back and then we’ll focus on two people, three people, and finally four people.”

“Don’t call me ‘B-Town’!” mumbled Barbara under her breath.

Betelgeuse didn’t seem to hear her.

Sigh. “Okay.” Adam stood up and moved to the center of the living room as well, focusing hard much like Barbara had done earlier and teleporting back in a literal split second, also sitting himself down on the couch. “I did it!”

“Yes, you certainly did, Adam. Now, let’s move our focus onto teleporting two people at once.” He turned his attention onto Lydia. “Scarecrow!” he called out. “If you could help us out with the rest of the lesson?”

“Of course.” Lydia stood up from her chair and sat on the floor in front of her dead secondary parents and dead best friend. She smiled up at them as she waited to be teleported somewhere with either Barbara or Adam first.”

“Great! But please stand up, Lyds,” said Betelgeuse, ushering Barbara to stand up first again as he watched Lydia stand up from where she was sitting down. “Babs, go stand over by Lydia and focus hard again as you hold tightly onto her.”

“Alright then!” said Barbara with a sweet smile as she held onto Lydia. She focused hard again and teleported herself and Lydia upstairs and back downstairs into the living room in one millisecond. “I did it! I did it!”

“Yes.” Betelgeuse let out a laugh. “You did. Now, Adam, it’s your turn.”

Barbara sat down on the couch and Adam stood up, taking her place. He placed a hand on Lydia’s shoulder before turning and looking over towards Betelgeuse. “It’s this simple, right?”

“You’ve got every bit of it down except for the focusing hard, Adam,” said Betelgeuse with a fake yawn.

“Right!” Adam focused hard as he placed his other hand on Lydia’s other shoulder and teleported the two of them out of the living room and upstairs before teleporting back downstairs. “I did it!”

“Yes, you did. Now, for the next part of the lesson, I want you both to stand next to Lydia and teleport her along with you upstairs and back down here,” said Betelgeuse.

“Right!” both Maitlands said at once. As quick as she could, Barbara stood up and joined Adam and Lydia in the center of the living room, looking over towards Betelgeuse as she and Adam placed a hand each on Lydia’s shoulders.

They focused hard at the exact same time as one another, teleporting themselves and Lydia upstairs just a second or two later before teleporting back downstairs into the living room.

“Great job, you guys,” said Betelgeuse as he stood up and joined Adam, Barbara, and Lydia in the center of the living room and placing his hands on Adam’s and Barbara’s shoulders at the same time as they put their hands back on top of Lydia’s shoulders. “Now,” Betelgeuse continued as he closed his eyes. “It’s time for the hardest part of this lesson: teleporting four people at once.”

“It shouldn’t be hard,” Adam said as he, Barbara, and Lydia also closed their eyes, Adam, Barbara, and Betelgeuse focusing hard at the same time. “It should be easy.” They teleported out of the living room and upstairs before teleporting back into the living room.

“WE DID IT!” the Maitlands shouted in unison, giving Betelgeuse a tight hug, which Lydia decided to join in on.

“Yes,” said Betelgeuse. “Now, who’s ready for their lesson on ‘Phasing through walls and objects’?”

“Me!” shouted the Maitlands in unison as they let go of Betelgeuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have now decided to shorten this story by one chapter. I hope you guys don’t mind.


	8. Phasing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at phasing through stuff.

As Adam and Barbara again sat on either side of him, Betelgeuse picked up, turned over, and flipped to the page in the Handbook that covered ‘Phasing through walls and objects’. His eyes scanned the page carefully and he smiled, turning to look over towards Adam and then over towards Barbara. Lydia sat still, leaning over, bored, her head resting on one of the arms of her chair and to be fair, all this helping the Maitlands with their lessons was tiring her out.

“Okay,” he finally said after a few minutes. “Phasing through walls and objects. All ghosts can do this and this is one of the first abilities that ghostslearn to do. All ghosts can phase through walls, through objects, and, if they wanted to, through living people.”

“So we can phase through Lydia?”

“That depends,” said Betelgeuse in response, coughing to grab the teenager’s attention. “Scarecrow, do you want the Maitlands phasing through you as part of the lesson?”

“I don’t know. It might tickle me just a little but they can if they want to.”

“Great! That should be the first part of the lesson,” said Betelgeuse, soundlessly clapping his hands together. “Lydia, can you stand up and move to the center of the living room please?”

“Fine!” Lydia grumbled quietly, righting herself, standing up, and moving to the center of the living room.

“You didn’t need to be that grumpy about simply moving to the center of the living room, Lyds,” said Adam as he gazed confusedly at her.

“Oh, alright.”

Not bothered by the conversation that had just taken place, Betelgeuse turned to look at Adam and said, “Now, Adam, I want you to go first this time around. Babs has gone first for every other lesson and I think it’s only fair that you had a chance to go first.”

“Right then,” said Adam as he stood up. He turned to look back over towards Betelgeuse the moment he felt he was nervous about what he was about to do.

“Go on,” Betelgeuse urged. “It’s easy. All you need to do is phase through Lydia and that’s it.”

“Well, if it’s that simple, then okay.”

Adam started to walk towards Lydia and the teenager closed her eyes, laughing a little when she felt the sensation of Adam passing through her and then again.

“Haha, Adam, that tickled.” Lydia fell to the floor in laughter and promptly stood up again, dusting herself off and waiting patiently for Barbara to have her turn in phasing through her.

“I bet it did,” Adam replied as he sat himself on the couch.

“Okay, now, Barbara, it’s your turn to phase through Lydia. Which should be as easy for you as Adam himself seemed to be able to do it perfectly fine on his first try,” said Betelgeuse as he glanced over to Barbara and gave her a small smile.

“Right-o,” said Barbara as she stood up. “I can do this!”

Adam laughed. “Did you just say ‘Right-o’?”

“Now’s not the time to joke, Adam,” said Barbara, Lydia, and Betelgeuse at the same time.

Barbara refocused her attention on phasing through Lydia and let out a figurative breath.

“Okay,” she said quietly to herself as she looked to Lydia, who was standing there and waiting for her to phase through her. “I can do this!”

She began to walk toward Lydia and felt as she passed right through her. Lydia could feel the sensation of her ghost mother phasing right through her, laughing as she felt the tickling part that came along with it. Lydia recomposed herself and felt her ghost mother pass through her again, again feeling it tickle her.

“WE BOTH DID IT!” the Maitlands shouted in unison as they gave each other a soundless high five.

“Yes,” said Betelgeuse with a sigh. “You did. But that’s just the “Phasing through living people” part.”

The Maitlands stopped. “There’s more?”

“Much, much, much more to this here particular lesson,” clarified Betelgeuse with a slight laugh. “You guys still need to each phase through a wall and each phase through an object. Trust me. It won’t even take that long.”

“How long?” asked Barbara.

“Five-ten minutes if I had to guess.”

“Well, if it won’t be that long,” said Adam. “Okay then, I guess we’ll finish our current lesson. The next one’s the last one, right?”

Betelgeuse nodded. “That is correct. Now, Adam,” he said as he pointed towards the chair Lydia had decided to no longer sit down in. “I want you to phase through that chair as your lesson on ‘Phasing through objects’.”

“Okay,” said Adam as he began to walk overtowards the chair and passed through it before passing through it again and making his way back over towards the couch, sitting down on it and turning to look over towards his wife and Betelgeuse. “I did this part of this lesson,” he said. “I can’t wait to phase through one of the walls.”

“Well you won’t have to wait for long, Adam,” said Betelgeuse. “Barbara’s going to phase through that same chair and then you guys get to phase through that wall.” He pointed towards the wall opposite them. “At the same time.”

“Sweet!!” the Maitlands said at once.

Barbara stood up and took yet another figurative deep breath, slowly making her way over towards the chair and passing through it before turning around and passing through it again. She made her way back over towards the couch and sat herself down.

“Now,” said Betelgeuse, leaning back a little bit as Lydia scrambled to sit herself back down in the chair. “I think it’s time for both of you to stand up and phase through that wall.” He pointed a hand towards the same wall as earlier. “At the same time.”

The Maitlands stood up at the exact same time, turning and looking at one another and smiling. They held hands as they began to make their way towards the wall that Betelgeuse had pointed out earlier before phasing through it and again, making their way back towards the couch and sitting down again.

“WE DID IT!” they cheered.

“Yes, you certainly did,” said Betelgeuse with a smile on his face. “Now, are you guys ready for your final lesson?”


	9. Invisibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maitlands try their hand at turning invisible.

All three dead people sat on the couch together one final time that day. With a couple hours before Lydia’s dad and stepmother came home from work, they knew they needed to get the last of the lessons done before then. Betelgeuse flipped to the page on “Invisibility” and began to scan the page before looking at Adam and then at Barbara.

“Okay,” he finally said after a few minutes of reading the page. ‘Invisibility, the act of making yourselves not visible to the eye of living people who can see you . All ghosts get a hang of this power when they first die and often use it to spy on whatever people are living in their home at the moment (If they don’t go to the Netherworld). Not advised for ghosts who are in the Netherworld.”

“So,” said Adam, leaning back a little and resting his hands behind his head. “We could have made ourselves invisible to Lydia if we wanted to?”

“Precisely,” said Betelgeuse.

“I heard that!” shouted Lydia to the Maitlands as loud as she could. “Also, I’d advise you not to do that as that would lead me to think I can’t see you until you make yourselves visible to me.”

The Maitlands’ eyes were wide. “She’s right! Betelgeuse?”

They turned to the demon in question.

“But you have to make yourselves invisible to her,” the demon said, a hint of seriousness in his voice. “It’s part of the lesson.”

“Oh...” They turned to look back over towards Lydia, equal looks of sadness on their faces.

“Lydia?” asked a nervous Adam, grabbing the teenager’s attention. “What do you think about all this?”

“Fine!” grumbled Lydia in annoyance. “You guys can make yourselves invisible to me if you want!”

“Thank you, Lydia,” said Barbara.

Betelgeuse turned to look over towards Barbara. “You can go first this time around, Babs,” he said.

“Okay,” she said, standing up. She moved to the center of the living room and turned herself invisible, Adam and Betelgeuse watching for a few seconds as Lydia looked around for her secondary ghost mother. Then Barbara made herself visible to Lydia again and the teenager went back to normal as soon as possible, sitting in her chair and smiling directly at Barbara.

She turned to face Adam and Betelgeuse, a wide smile on her face.

“I did it!”

“Yes, you did. And that concludes your lessons, Babsy. Adam, it’s your turn now.”

Barbara laughed. “Did you just call me ‘Babsy’?”

“Yes?”

“Only Adam gets to call me that.”

“Since when do I call you ‘Babsy’?”

“Adam, I said it was your turn.”

“Right.” Adam stood up and moved to the center of the living room, doing exactly what Barbara had done earlier: he turned himself invisible to Lydia and again she looked around before Adam turned himself visible to her.

He turned to the couch and walked over to give Barbara and then Betelgeuse a high five each.

“I did it!” he cheered out of excitement as he sat down on the couch.

“Yes, you did. And that concludes the last of our lessons. Good job, you guys. Good job,” said Betelgeuse with a smile on his face as he glanced at Adam and then at Barbara.

They turned at the sound of the door opening and saw Charles and Delia walking inside. Even though it was too early for them to even come home, Lydia still rushed over and gave them each a hug.

“Dad! Delia! You’re home early!” shouted Lydia as she let go of Delia. “Done with work already?”

“Lydia’s right,” said Barbara as she and Adam both came over and joined all three living people in the front foyer of the house. “Did you guys get off work early or?”

“We got off work early,” confirmed Charles with a laugh. “So we decided to come home much earlier than we usually do. You guys been busy all day?” He had his eyes focused on the Maitlands and Lydia.

“Oh yes,” said Barbara as she, Adam, and Lydia all glanced at Betelgeuse. “A certain someone helped the two of us learn to use our powers.”

“And what did you do today, Lydia, sweetheart?” asked Charles.

“I helped them out with some of their powers!” exclaimed a smiling Lydia.

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” said Adam. “She was very helpful.”

The family of five laughed together as Betelgeuse came over and joined them. All in all, it was a very eventful day and the Maitlands were glad they got control of their powers.

“Thank you, Betelgeuse,” said Adam and Barbara at the same time as they took each a glance towards the demon.

“You’re very welcome, Maits,” was his response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...that’s it. Hope you guys enjoyed this story?


End file.
